Prologue

A gust of stale air stirred long-settled films of dust that coated the rocks below.

Surrounding, a profound silence seemed to hang in the air, its weight seeping into the very essence of the cave. Such disturbance felt unnatural, as if in rebellion against a sacred hush bestowed by silence.

Another gust wheezed by, setting grime to waltz in swirling eddies, unable to cling to the rubble as they whisked through the air.

Muffled groans echoed from deeper within, blasphemy mounding.

…

Rusted chains strained as their outer layers peeled; fine, smoke-like dust wafting up a sigh of overdue relief.

Intertwining links creaked in anguish, pulling against firm stone walls that bore numerous signs of struggle.

Grooves, punctures, and jagged cracks marred the surface, reaching toward the stalactites plunging from the ceiling.

Tugging tumbled down into crumbling and sparking, rumble after rumble resounding like thunder.

As if trapped within a caged storm, the earth quivered in convulsion.

“Let me out!”

A gravelly voice reverberated throughout the space, a potent blend of ferocity and despair.

The groans escalated into defiant shouts–the mounding rumbles into merciless pounding.

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Anguished screams lay muted by the crushing din, echoing feebly as the pounding began to intensify.

“Why must I remain here!?”

Dust heaved as if a sandstorm.

Boulders cascaded like meteors.

“Why do you damn me to this place!?”

With a thunderous crash, the dust finally found rest upon the shattered rock, revealing broken pieces of chain that clawed their way out of the ground, aged and begrimed.

In a haunting spectacle, the chains began to reform, shackling the prisoner’s motionless limbs while reattaching themselves to the unscathed wall, as if in mocking.

Tales of futile struggle riddled the prisoner's limbs wherever the chains held.

After a momentary pause, the prisoner’s words reverberated once more, dripping with an air of humiliated defiance.

“Enough!” Their voice began to quaver, cracking helplessly into a feeble entreaty as they continued.

“You wish to make an example out of me?” The words rang out, laden with chastened fury.

“You covet my strength?” As they spoke, their cadence slowed, gradual realization clouding their visage.

“Take it,” the prisoner spat out after a pause, closing their dirtied eyes tightly.

As these words left the prisoner’s mouth, ghostly light spurned from within their chest.

Jettisoned from their body, it set forth, darting into the depths of the cave and vanishing in but a moment.

A vacant expression briefly flickered through the prisoner's countenance, in lasting absence of something precious.

After a moment’s silence, it was replaced by a facade of gloating.

“You can wrest away my power, but you may not rob me of my will.”

“In your possession is merely an asset—a script! My freedom is now assured, but what have you?” Their words were marred by hopelessness, a despondent proclamation.

“Hear me!”

“Your foul contract will be torn asunder, and I will be returned!”

The final echoes of the prisoner’s declaration lingered in the air as if dripping along the fractured ground–their slithering streams only severed by the sound of their chains mending themselves, golden light receding into their cracks.

...

Silence reigned once more.